Top 5 for best of British
The Goring won Best British at this year's Tio Pepe ITV London Restaurant Awards
It's St George's Day this weekend, which is definitely the moment to celebrate some 'British Excellence'. From the excellent rump steak at Butler's Wharf Chop House to the award-winning menu at the Goring Hotel, Fay Maschler reveals her best of British....
- BUTLER'S WHARF CHOP HOUSE36E Shad Thames, SE1 (020-7403 3403). Mon-Sun (Sun lunch only) £100***St George's Day (Sat 23 Apr) is definitely the moment to celebrate 'British Excellence'. This title refers to well-matured beef sourced from herds that are traditionally reared and barley-fed. British Excellence rump steak with baby vegetables and ale gravy is one of the main courses on the special St George's Day menu at this riverside restaurant at the heart of Conran's 'gastrodrome'. Desserts such as rhubarb jelly with Cornish clotted cream sustain the patriotism. You could even raise a glass of award-winning Chapel Down wine from Kent.
- HIND'S HEAD HOTEL High Street, Bray, Berks (01628 626 151). Mon-Sun £80****Heston Blumenthal, chef/proprietor of the three-Michelin-starred Fat Duck, bought the pub nearby and set about returning dignity and dash to our indigenous cuisine. Dominic Chapman, who has worked at The Fat Duck, sends out dishes like pea and ham soup, potted shrimps, roast cod with parsley sauce, Lancashire hotpot, and treacle tart with milk ice cream, prepared with a directness and finesse rarely applied to seemingly homely food. Eat in the bar or adjoining restaurant. A great place to go with a bunch of friends or family.
- ANCHOR & HOPE 36 The Cut, SE1 (020-7928 9898). Mon-Sat £72****Social progress is when a venue called Bar Citrus fails and becomes the place that has best defined a gastropub. Owners and staff from The Eagle, St John and The Fox have introduced the ethos of those places, which means dedication to seasonal, local ingredients and dislike of fuss and falderal. A no-bookings system results in waits for, and pressure on, tables, but the spirited cooking makes it worthwhile. Dishes, tersely described but lovingly prepared, might be as simple as tomatoes on toast, as complex as slow-roasted stuffed duck.
- GORING HOTEL 15 Beeston Place, SW1 (020-7396 9000). Sun-Fri £120***This year, The Goring won Best British at the Tio Pepe ITV London Restaurant Awards. Four generations of the family have been in charge over 95 years and, although the hotel has most definitely moved with the times, it has maintained a state of grace fast disappearing elsewhere. A meal should start in the bar overlooking the secret garden at the back. In the comfortable chintz-draped restaurant, a dish such as new-season English lamb with spring vegetables makes everything right with the world - as do exemplary wines.
BLUEBIRD DINING ROOMS
Beaufort Street, SW3 (020-7559 1129). Mon-Sat (dinner only) & Sun (lunch only) £130
Prices estimate the average cost of a meal for two with wine
